Simon Lester has a thoughtful response to my earlier post about using trade remedies to enforce arbitration awards. He questions whether conditioning GSP benefits on compliance with arbitration awards is consistent with WTO obligations. My answer is essentially yes. Because there are so many issues at play, I thought it best to respond in a…
As I discuss in a recent article published in the Santa Clara Journal of International Law, one of the most significant developments signaling the convergence of trade and arbitration is the use of trade remedies to enforce arbitration awards. This is done primarily when a developed country threatens to remove preferential trade benefits to a…
Setting the scene Iraq currently ranks with Libya and Yemen amongst those recalcitrant Arab states that have thus far failed to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards of 1958 (the New York Convention or Convention). This state of affairs and the inadequacy of the country’s domestic and…
Allegations of fraud and corruption are increasingly encountered in international arbitrations but there is at times a perception that international arbitration, which is by nature a private and consensual dispute resolution mechanism, is ill-equipped to handle the challenges thrown up by such allegations. This is particularly so when looking at arbitral procedure. Is this perception…
and Anna Tkachova, Asters Court practice shows that sometimes while considering applications on recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitration awards, Ukrainian courts apply Ukrainian legislation in an arbitrary manner. In this post we will analyze the legal grounds used by Ukrainian courts in consideration of an application seeking recognition and enforcement of an award issued…
A recent ruling of the Dubai Court of Appeal (see Case No. 1/2013 – Commercial Appeal, ruling of the Dubai Court of Appeal of 9 July 2013) gives new hope that despite the Dubai Court of Cassation’s disappointing approach in Case No. 156/2013 (see my blog of 21st October 2013), the UAE courts are, in…
The Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia (the Court) recently upheld a decision enforcing an arbitral award made by three London arbitrators (Gujarat NRE Coke Limited v. Coeclerici Asia (Pte) Ltd [2013] FCAFC 109). The Court dismissed the appeal confirming that the arbitrators did not deny the appellants procedural fairness and did not…
A controversial decision by Qatar’s Court of Cassation has ruled on the necessity for arbitral awards to be rendered in the name of His Highness The Emir of Qatar. The said ruling issued on 12 June 2012 (Petition No. 64/2012) set aside an arbitral award rendered under the auspices of the Qatar International Center for…
and Ievgen Boiarskyi, Junior Associate at AstapovLawyers It is widely accepted that successful outcome of international commercial arbitration proceedings often depends on timely obtained provisional measures designed to protect either the lawful interests of the parties or property in dispute until the final arbitral award on the merits is issued. Although provisional measures may be…
The Supreme Court of India handed down a judgment earlier this month that restates Indian position on the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in line with the international standards. In the case of Shri Lal Mahal Ltd. v. Progetto Grano Spa, a three judge bench of the apex court held that review of a foreign…
By Jelita Pandjaitan and Steven Pettigrove of Linklaters, and Nicola Nygh of Allens Linklaters. On 15 July 2013, Myanmar formally acceded to the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the “New York Convention”). The New York Convention obliges Myanmar’s Courts to give effect to contractual provisions which provide for…
One of the most important elements to consider when participating in arbitration proceedings is the available mechanisms to challenge the award of the arbitral tribunal. This element acquires an added significance when it comes to international arbitration where the award may be enforced in several jurisdictions. With that in mind, it is pertinent to refer…
By Alessandro Villani and Manuela Caccialanza One of the more debated issues in the process of the implementation and review of Regulation No. 44/2001 (“Brussels Regulation”) was the general exclusion of arbitration from the matters covered by the Brussels Regulation. The debate about the opportunity to mitigate such exclusion arises from the subsequent difficulty in…
By Crenguta Leaua and Stefan Dudas (Leaua & Asociatii) A new Code of Civil Procedure (CCP) including two separate sections on domestic and international arbitration entered into force in Romania on 15th of February. With this step, Romanian law continues to differentiate between domestic and international arbitration and to allow for a flexible regime for…
A recent ruling of the Dubai Court of First Instance (see Case No. 489/2012, ruling of the Dubai Court of First Instance of 18 December 2012) questions de novo the UAE courts’ compliance with their obligations under international enforcement instruments in the enforcement of foreign arbitral awards. Following the recent trend of consolidation of the…
In Part I of my post, the revised “Brussels I” Regulation (Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters) was discussed in the light of a hypothetical example from international trade and arbitration. This Part 2 strives to outline the…
The recent Portuguese Voluntary Arbitration Law, which has been in force since 14 March 2012, (English version available here), was received with great enthusiasm amongst the legal community, which claimed for a new arbitration law that could bring to Portugal a regulatory framework closer to the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration. The goal…
Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2012 (published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 20 December 2012) implements a new, recast version of the Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in…
If the answer is London, Paris, Geneva, New York, Tokyo and Singapore, what is the question? International cities? Fashion hot spots? Location of Manchester United supporters’ clubs? It may well be the answer to all three questions (although I confess that I have not actually checked the Manchester United one), but they are also the…
by Kah Cheong Lye (Partner) and Chuan Tat Yeo (Associate), Norton Rose (Asia) LLP Like computer programs, the length of time between updates for institutional rules seems to get shorter and shorter. New editions of institutional arbitral rules were introduced by the SIAC in 2010, the ICC in 2012, and the HKIAC’s revised Administered Arbitration…
As its Council Member I attended the ICC Institute of World Business Law’s 32nd annual meeting on ‘Third-Party Funding in International Arbitration’ held in Paris on 26 November 2012. It was a grand success as it drew many professionals, arbitrators, experts, academic specialists and, above all, representatives from some major third-party funding bodies such as…
Arbitration is underpinned by natural justice. Article 18 of the Model Law, enshrining the right of the parties to be treated with equality, and given a full opportunity to present their case, was described by UNCITRAL in 1985 as the “Magna Carta of Arbitral Procedure”. Yet the Model Law does not in Articles 34 and…
The recent revisions to the Chinese Civil Procedure Law (the “CPL”) made some significant amendments to the arbitration law in China. In particular, the new CPL for the first time provides for pre-arbitration preservation measures to be available from the Chinese courts. The revisions will come into force on 1 January 2013. Under the existing…
In Astro Nusantara International BV v PT Ayunda Prima Mitra [2012] SGHC 212, the Singapore High Court set out the available recourse against an international arbitration award made in Singapore. This case has significant implications for Singapore as a seat of arbitration, and this note contrasts the position between Singapore and Hong Kong against the…
